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This research focuses on the development of paper from lignocellulosic agricultural wastes, viz., corn husk (CH), which is an underexplored material and sugarcane baggase (SB), in varying proportions, through soda pulping and enhancement of their functionalities through chitosan and chitosan-beeswax emulsion coatings. Fiber digestion conditions were as follows: 100°C (30 min); 100–162°C (90 min) and 162°C (90 min); followed by blowing, quenching and then refining of both treated CH and SB pulp to a Canadian Standard Freeness (CSF) of 400–450 mL. The handsheets of 80 GSM (grammage) were prepared as per the standard ISO-5269/1 and were tested for their mechanical and barrier properties as per standard methods of ISO. Handsheets developed from the blend of SB and CH (50:50) and SB fibers (100%) were found to have better mechanical strength (in terms of burst, tensile and tear strength) in comparison to CH fibers (100%). The effect of coatings on mechanical, water resistance, micro-structural, and biodegradable properties of the cellulose papers were also assessed. The chitosan coating significantly improved (p

Benzoxaboroles are versatile boron heterocyclic compounds that have demonstrated a plethora of pharmacological activities including anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory, anti-malarial, anti- trypanosomal, ectoparasiticide, anti-cancer, anti-pneumococcal as well as anti-tubercular. The potential therapeutic profile of benzoxaboroles has led to the fast development of benzoxaborole chemistry and the development of novel strategies for the synthesis of a variety of benzoxaboroles. Some of the benzoxaborole based lead candidates with excellent pharmacological activities have been tested clinically for the treatment of numerous diseases. FDA has recently approved drugs that possess benzoxaborole moieties such as Tavaborole for toenail onychomycosis and Crisaborole for atopic dermatitis. These advancements have carved a new way for benzoxaborole as an attractive and remarkable scaffold in medicinal chemistry worldwide. This review focuses on the major developments in benzoxaborole chemistry, synthetic approaches, physical properties as well as pharmacological importance including structure activity relationship and mechanism of action of this class of compounds.

Whole wheat breads are usually packed in low density polyethylene (LDPE) or polypropylene (PP) based packets, however, owing to a blanket ban on non-biodegradable plastics, packaging materials derived from renewable ligno-cellulosic fibers, are gaining prevalence. This study takes into account, the purchase intention, overall acceptance and storability of uncoated (U), functional chitosan coated (CC) and beeswax-chitosan emulsion coated (WC) paper packaging materials, for whole wheat bread loaves stored at refrigerated (5 ± 2 °C) and ambient temperature (25 ± 2 °C) conditions. LDPE served as control. Overall consumer acceptability and the buying behavior suggested maximum acceptability of WC papers for whole wheat breads. The analytical and microbiological attributes of chitosan and emulsion coated paper packaged breads were better in comparison to that of LDPE. The changes in moisture content (39.12 ± 0.3% - 34.99 ± 0.3%) and alkaline water retention capacity (357.9 ± 2.07%–344 ± 2.0%) of bread samples were found to be significant under packaged storage at both temperatures (p